to fall away
- phrasal verb
- /fɔl əˈweɪ/
- After several months, her enthusiasm for the project began to fall away, as she found it more challenging than expected.
And for me, when the people fall away, you don't realize it immediately.
- And for me, when the people fall away, you don't realize it immediately.
- And when you make that choice, certain things fall away, but other things become stronger.
- Like she'll just like bad habits fall away when she focuses on good habits.
- For when you awaken, the simulation transforms, the false falls away, and the real takes form.
- If this falls away, the suffering falls away.
- So that check on my life kind of fell away.
- Men's testosterone is, is, is falling away.
- And doing that will eventually produce a will that won't fall away.
- But then slowly but surely, the people start to fall away.
- That false conceptual identity falls away.
- And so we all kind of collectively stood back and the boundaries just fell away.
- And when you actually get in touch with this moment, things do fall away.
- But once you're like the romantic moments, all that kind of stuff, all that falls away.
- Nicole, even if you are a Democrat, The Dirty little COVID veil is starting to fall away from her eyes.
- And then when you're on the bench for that so long, you just end up kind of falling away.
Examples
-
As the weeks rolled on, the other republican hopefuls fell away one by one, suspending their campaigns and returning to the drawing board, as the Trump train continued gaining steam from coast to coast.
-
In America, we cling to our pleasures, feeling chagrin as each diminishes in intensity, falls away, or disappears altogether.
Academic text (1997) -
And when you make that choice, certain things fall away, but other things become stronger.
-
I felt my life falling away on all sides of that voice.
Fiction book (1997) -
Everything else in life for me has fallen away, has gone Gray.
-
In these moments... everything else falls away.
-
If you'd told us she was falling away, maybe we could have helped.
-
And as the last of the autumn leaves fell away... ...so did Charlotte's fear.
-
For when you awaken, the simulation transforms, the false falls away, and the real takes form.
-
"Old territorialities and animosities fell away unnoticed as people focused on common goals," reflects Tom Burbey.
Academic text (1995)
Synonyms
Become less in number or amount
To slowly become less visible, bright, or loud
To become less over time, for example in value or health
To become less in size, importance, or value
To become worse or fall to a lower level
An effect or feeling that becomes less strong and then stops
To become smaller or less in number over time
To become weaker and then disappear over time
Become less in number, amount, or quality
To become less strong or loud over time
To move back or become less strong
To become less in number or amount
Gradually become harder to see or quieter until it disappears
To lose electrical charge or current slowly over time
To slowly disappear or stop existing
To slowly become weaker and then stop
To become smaller or weaker over time until it stops
To become quieter and then stop
To become less over time
Slowly get smaller in number or amount until nothing remains
To move back slowly, like water leaving a shore
To become slowly smaller or less until almost nothing remains
To flow back or become less strong slowly
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to decrease or fade' is directly derivable from combining 'fall' (to drop) with 'away' (to disappear or fade out); the particle 'away' transparently adds a sense of removal or fading to the basic notion of falling. This verb+particle composition is a common, predictable pattern in English (and parallels exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Fall away comes from a simple image: small parts fall away from a larger thing—like leaves dropping from a tree or paint coming off a wall. So, when feelings, numbers, or support fall away, they 'become less' or grow weaker.